I was blessed to go see the NEW revival of Ragtime going on tour right now and it is really good. I saw it in St. Louis and I though they had some very smart choices for direction/choreography and use of the stage. Keep in mind that when a show goes on tour they have to minimize some of the sets to save costs.

In the new tour, they use a series of backgrounds which silhouette the important parts of a scene (ships, a tree, etc.)--I thought this was genius because it reinforces the whole reference to silhouettes in Tateh's portions of the musical. Also, the way they use lighting to show Coalhouse's death was pretty epic. Finally, the scenes flow seamlessly on stage and I was very impressed.

The acting/singing are of course amazing!

My only criticism is that it is pre-recorded orchestra music rather than a live orchestra--but I understand that when a musical goes on tour, they have to save as much space and money as they can.

OVERALL--if you have the chance go see this show!! It's a great limited opportunity.